1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spout sealing apparatus which manufactures spout-equipped bags by inserting spouts into bags, temporarily sealing the sealing portions of the spouts in the mouths of the bags, and then performing a main sealing operation on the bags which have spouts attached thereto.
2. Prior Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H11-333950, for instance, discloses a spout sealing apparatus that manufactures spout-equipped bags by inserting spouts into bags and then sealing the sealing portions of the spouts in the mouths of the bags. In this apparatus, spouts are held in an inverted state by a plurality of spout holding members disposed on the circumference of a main disk, and bags are fitted over the held spouts from above while the main disk is stopped during the intermittent rotation of the main disk. In addition, the sealing portions of the spouts and the mouths of the bags are successively sealed by first through sixth heating means disposed around the main disk.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H11-77860, a plurality of pouch holding bodies are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotary apparatus. After spouts are inserted into bags, the spouts are held along with the individual bags by the pouch holding bodies; a first sealing apparatus, second sealing apparatus and cold-sealing apparatus which are disposed around the rotary apparatus are rotated with a movement that follows the continuous rotation of the rotary apparatus for a specified distance; and sealing and cold-sealing are performed during this rotation. After thus performing a following-rotation for a specified distance, the respective sealing apparatuses rotate in the reverse direction and return to their original positions, with such following-rotation and return rotation being repeated.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H10-202768 discloses a continuously rotating rotary apparatus. In this apparatus, a plurality of spout holding means are disposed on the circumference of an upper rotating table; opener devices which fit bags over the spouts, heater means and cooler means are disposed on a lower rotating table so as to correspond to the respective spout holding means. Bags are fitted over the spouts; and the bags are sealed and cold-sealed, while both rotating tables are continuously rotated.
However, the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H11-333950 uses a system in which the main disk that holds the spouts rotates intermittently. As a result, this apparatus suffers from the problem of an extremely slow processing rate in terms of bags per minute.
In the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H11-77860, the rotary apparatus uses a continuous rotation system. However, the sealing apparatuses use a following-rotation system, and it is necessary that the first and second sealing and cold-sealing all be performed while the rotary apparatus performs approximately one half rotation. Accordingly, it is difficult to increase the rotational speed of the rotary apparatus, and the processing rate is slow.
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 10-202768, the rotary apparatus uses a continuous rotation system, but sealing (excx9cffff) and cold-sealing (fxcx9cg) must be respectively completed during xc2xc rotation. Accordingly, it is difficult to increase the rotational speed of the rotary apparatus, and the processing rate is slow.
The present invention solves the above-described problems.
The object of the present invention is to increase the processing rate and improve productivity in the manufacture of spout-equipped bags using a rotary apparatus.
The above object is accomplished by a unique method of the present invention wherein:
a spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus and a spout main-sealing apparatus are disposed so that the spout main-sealing apparatus is positioned on a downstream side of a spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus,
the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus holding spouts by means of a plurality of spout holding members that are disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, fitting bags over the spouts while rotationally conveying the spouts, and then temporarily sealing the bags and spouts, and
the spout main-sealing apparatus holding the spouts of temporarily sealed bags, that have attached spouts, by means of a plurality of spout holding members disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, the spout main-sealing apparatus further performing a main sealing operation while rotationally conveying the temporarily sealed bags with attached spouts, and wherein
bags with attached spouts that have been temporarily sealed by the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus are continuously transferred to the spout main-sealing apparatus and subjected to main sealing.
By thus performing the process up to and including temporary sealing and the process of main sealing, using separate rotors, it is possible to shorten the operating time per rotor, so that the rotational speed of the rotors can be increased. The above temporary sealing process becomes necessary as a result of the fact that the main-sealing process is performed by means of a rotor which is separate from the rotor that performs the insertion process, etc.
The above-described main-sealing process can be split into a primary sealing process and secondary sealing process. In other words, the main-sealing apparatus can be constructed from a primary sealing apparatus and a secondary sealing apparatus that is installed on the downstream side of the primary sealing apparatus. By dividing the main-sealing process, which requires the most operating time, into two processes, it is possible to increase the rotational speed of the rotors even further.
Furthermore, it is desirable that a cold-sealing apparatus be disposed on the downstream side of the main-sealing apparatus so that bags with attached spouts that have been subjected to main-sealing by the main-sealing apparatus are continuously transferred to the cold-sealing apparatus and cold-sealed. This cold-sealing apparatus holds the spouts of bags by means of a plurality of spout holding members that are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and performs cold-sealing while rotationally conveying the bags.
It is also desirable that rotating transfer apparatuses in which a plurality of spout holding members are disposed on the circumferences of continuously rotating rotors be disposed between the respective sealing apparatuses (i.e., the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus, main-sealing apparatus (primary sealing apparatus and secondary sealing apparatus) and cold-sealing apparatus), and that bags that have attached spouts be transferred from sealing apparatuses on the upstream side to sealing apparatuses on the downstream side via the rotating transfer apparatuses. Since various types of processing means are disposed on the circumferences of rotors in the respective sealing apparatuses (e.g., main-sealing means in the case of the main-sealing apparatus), there is a danger that the processing means will interfere with each other if the bags that have attached spouts are directly transferred between the sealing apparatuses. However, this danger can be avoided by interposing the rotating transfer apparatuses. By interposing such rotating transfer apparatuses, it is possible to increase the working region (i.e., the rotational angle of the rotor that can be used for sealing work) in each sealing apparatus compared to a case in which the respective sealing apparatuses are simply disposed in a row.
It is also desirable that spouts have one or more laterally oriented projecting strips formed on the sealing portions and the temporary sealing of the sealing portions and bags be performed so that the projecting strips are prevented from the temporary sealing.
Furthermore, the above object is accomplished by a unique structure for a spout sealing apparatus of the present invention that comprises:
a spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus in which:
a plurality of spout holding members that hold spouts are disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor,
insertion means that fit bags over the spouts that are held by the spout holding members are disposed so as to correspond to the respective spout holding members, and
a temporary-sealing apparatus is disposed near the rotor so as to temporarily seal the bags and the spouts held by the spout holding members;
a spout main-sealing apparatus in which:
a plurality of spout holding members that hold spouts are disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and
main-sealing means that perform a main sealing of the bags with attached spouts that are held by the spout holding members are disposed so as to correspond to respective the spout holding members, and
a rotating transfer apparatus in which a plurality of spout holding members that hold spouts are disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and wherein
the rotating transfer apparatus is disposed between the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus and the spout main-sealing apparatus, so that the rotating transfer apparatus continuously transfers bags with attached spouts from the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus to the spout main-sealing apparatus.
In the above structure, the spout main-sealing apparatus can be constructed from a primary sealing apparatus and a secondary sealing apparatus. In both of which, a plurality of spout holding members that hold spouts are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and main-sealing means that perform the main sealing of the bags with attached spouts held by the spout holding members are disposed so as to correspond to the respective spout holding members. In this case, a rotating transfer apparatus similar to that described above is disposed between the primary sealing apparatus and secondary sealing apparatus, and bags with attached spouts are continuously transferred from the primary sealing apparatus to the secondary sealing apparatus via this rotating transfer apparatus.
Furthermore, a spout cold-sealing apparatus can be further disposed on the downstream side of the spout main-sealing apparatus. In the spout cold-sealing apparatus, a plurality of spout holding members that hold spouts are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and cold-sealing means that cold-seal the bags with attached spouts that are held by the spout holding members are disposed so as to correspond to the respective spout holding members. In this case also, a rotating transfer apparatus similar to that described above is disposed between the spout main-sealing apparatus and the spout cold-sealing apparatus, and bags with attached spouts are continuously transferred from the spout main-sealing apparatus to the spout cold-sealing apparatus via this rotating transfer apparatus. If necessary, such a similar rotating transfer apparatus may also be disposed on the downstream side of the cold-sealing apparatus, so that bags that have attached spouts are transferred from the cold-sealing apparatus to the apparatus of the next process via this rotating transfer apparatus.
In the above spout sealing apparatus, a defective bag discharge device can be attached to one or more of the rotating transfer apparatuses. In cases where the spout holding members disposed on the respective rotors of the spout sealing apparatus are, for instance, fork-shaped members which have clamping grooves that face radially outward and clamp groove portions located between flanges on the spouts, such defective bag discharge devices can be equipped with for instance: a discharge member which contacts the spouts of defective bags held by the spout holding members and pushes the spouts outward in the radial direction; and an advancing-and-retracting mechanism which advances and retracts the discharge member between a retracted position and a contact position.
Furthermore, the spout holding members disposed on the respective rotors of the spout sealing apparatus are, for example, fork-shaped members which have: clamping grooves that face radially outward and clamp groove portions located between flanges on the spouts, and tapered surfaces that open outward are formed in the vicinity of the entry point of the clamping groove in each spout holding member. In this case, guide members which transfer bags with attached spouts from spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the upstream side to spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the downstream side are provided between adjacent rotors. The guide members are equipped with, for instance, downward-facing grooves which are continuously curved from the conveying track of the centers of spout holding positions of the spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the upstream side to the conveying track of the centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the downstream side, and the head portions of the spouts are inserted into the grooves and guided along the grooves. When such guide members are installed, a gap is set between the conveying track of the centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the upstream side and the conveying track of the centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members disposed on the rotor located on the downstream side, and the groove passes through more or less the central position of this gap in the position where the two conveying tracks are in closest proximity to each other.
In the above spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus, the temporary-sealing apparatus can be provided with a heated rotating sealing body. The heated rotating sealing body is disposed in close proximity to the outer circumferential side of the rotor and rotates at the same speed as the spouts held by the spout holding members. It is desirable that back-up members which advance and retract in the radial direction be installed on the inner circumferential side of the rotor so as to correspond to the respective spout holding members. The rotating sealing body contacts the sealing portions of the spouts with the bags fitted thereon, and the back-up members advance outward in the radial direction upon arrival at the temporary sealing position and contact the insides of the sealing portions of spouts with the bags fitted thereon, thus supporting the bags from the inside.
Alternatively, the temporary-sealing apparatus an be equipped with, for instance, a heated sealing body which is disposed in close proximity to the outer circumferential side of the rotor and follows for a specified distance the rotation of the spouts held by spout holding members. This heated sealing body repeatedly advances and contacts the sealing portions of the spouts with the bags fitted thereon that are held by the spout holding members, follows the rotation of the bags for a specified distance, and then withdraws and returns to its original position.